Girls, 16, rob woman, head to Wendy’s

Updated 3:00 pm, Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Seattle police have arrested two 16-year-old girls suspected of snatching a woman’s purse near the Mount Baker light rail station.

According to police, the girls knocked the woman down and ran off with her purse. They later ditched the woman’s belongings at a Wendy’s, a police spokesman said, and were arrested nearby.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Monday, police received a report of a robbery in the 3000 block of Rainier Avenue South. Witnesses described two teenage females as the assailants.

An officer responding to the scene saw the two girls walk out of the Wendy’s restaurant five blocks from the light-rail station. He continued to the robbery scene and returned after receiving a detailed description of the assailants.

The alleged victim told police she was walking underneath the station when she heard someone behind her; when she turned and girls pushed her to the ground. According to a police statement, one of the suspects punched her several times in the face while the other suspect grabbed her purse. The victim tried to hold onto the purse until the strap broke.

The woman sustained a cut to her lip and redness around her left eye, as well as several scrapes to her knees.

The officer then called in a detailed description and directed other officers to the area where he’d seen the girls, Detective Mark Jamieson said in a statement. The girls were arrested nearby and later identified by the alleged victim.

One of the suspects had the victim’s driver’s license and credit cards on her, as well as some cash, Jamieson said. Officers were able to find the victim’s purse in a garbage can inside the Wendy’s, and the property was returned to the victim.

Both girls were booked into the King County Youth Services Center on suspicion of robbery.